Explaining union growth and decline with flows in and out of membership. An analysis of Swiss union locals

This paper enquires into the causes of union growth and decline by analysing flows in and out of membership. It does so at the level of 70 Swiss union locals over the period 2006-08. Gross flows in union membership are found to be much larger than the resulting net changes: turnover of annually 10 per cent thus is a surprisingly constant feature across unions. Net changes in membership are primarily determined by inflows: successful union locals differ from languishing ones with respect to their entry rates, whereas exit rates are similar. There is large variance in union locals’ entry rates that is not accounted for by the labour market context. Rather, it seems attributable to differences in union organization and strategy.trade unions; membership; strategic choice; turnover; recruitment

Does Unemployment Hurt Less if There Is More of It Around?: A Panel Analysis of Life Satisfaction in Germany and Switzerland

This paper examines the existence of a habituation effect to unemployment: Do the unemployed suffer less from job loss if unemployment is more widespread, if their own unemployment lasts longer and if unemployment is a recurrent experience? The underlying idea is that unemployment hysteresis may operate through a sociological channel: if many people in the community lose their job and remain unemployed over an extended period, the psychological cost of beingunemployed diminishes and the pressure to accept a new job declines. We analyze this question with individual-level data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2009) and the Swiss Household Panel (2000-2009). We find no evidence for a mitigating effect of high surrounding unemployment on unemployed individuals' subjective well-being: Becoming unemployed hurts as much when regional unemployment is high as when it is low. Likewise, the strongly harmful impact of being unemployed on well-being does not wear off over time, nor do repeated episodes of unemployment make it any better. It thus appears doubtful that an unemployment shock becomes persistent because the unemployed become used to, and hence reasonably content with, being without a job.Subjective well-being, unemployment, hysteresis, happiness, social norm

Explaining high unemployment among low-skilled workers: Evidence from 21 European and Anglo-Saxon countries, 1991-2006

The OECD’s unemployment problem is largely concentrated among low-skilled workers. In this paper, four explanations of low-skilled workers’ unemployment are examined: wage-setting institutions, employment regulation, globalization, and monetary policy. The analysis is based on pooled regressions for 21 affluent countries over the period 1991-2006. Our findings provide no support for the hypothesis that low-skilled workers’ employment prospects are hindered by legal minimum wages or strict employment protection. Likewise, large wage inequality does not seem to be a necessary condition for countries to achieve low rates of low-skilled unemployment. In contrast, investment in active labour market policies pays off in form of less low-skilled unemployment. Additionally, low real interest rates are associated with significantly less low-skilled unemployment. Hence, low-skilled workers’ job prospects seem enhanced by a combination of active labour market policies with a monetary policy that allows the economy to fully exploit its growth potential.unemployment, low-skilled workers, wage inequality, monetary policy

The Working Class Left Behind ? The Class Gap in Life Satisfaction in Germany and Switzerland over the Last Decades

The 1990s and 2000s were a gloomy period for Germany’s working class, hit by mass unemployment, welfare retrenchment and wage stagnation. We examine whether the growing economic disparity between the top and the bottom of Germany’s class structure was accompanied by a widening class gap in life satisfaction. We analyse whether there is a social class gradient in life satisfaction and whether, over the last decades, this class gradient increased in Germany, relative to the comparison case of Switzerland. We use panel data for Germany (1984–2014) and Switzerland (2000–2015) and check the robustness of our results by replicating our analysis with the pooled German and Swiss samples of the European Social Survey (2002–2014). In both countries, respondents in higher classes report substantially higher life satisfaction than those in lower classes. The class gap is twice as large in Germany than in Switzerland. In Germany, the class gap in life satisfaction narrowed between 1984 and 1990, strongly widened between 1990 and 2005 and then decreased again after 2010. In Switzerland, the class gap did not follow a clear time trend, but remained basically constant. In Germany, differences in unemployment risks and household income account for half of the class gap and its evolution over time

Does Unemployment Hurt Less if There is More of it Around? A Panel Analysis of Life Satisfaction in Germany and Switzerland

This article examines the existence of a habituation effect to unemployment: Does the subjective well-being of unemployed people decline less if unemployment is more widespread? The underlying idea is that unemployment hysteresis may operate through a sociological channel: if many people in the community lose their job and remain unemployed over an extended period, the psychological cost of being unemployed diminishes, and the pressure to accept a new job declines. We analyse this question with individual-level data from the German socio-economic panel (1984-2010) and the Swiss household panel (2000-2010). Our fixed-effects estimates show no evidence for a mitigating effect of high surrounding unemployment on the subjective well-being of the unemployed. Becoming unemployed hurts as much when regional unemployment is high as when it is low. Likewise, the strongly harmful impact of being unemployed on well-being neither wears off over time, nor do repeated episodes of unemployment make it any better. It thus appears doubtful that an unemployment shock becomes persistent because the unemployed becomes used to, and hence reasonably content with, being without a jo

Social Networks and Job Access for the Unemployed : Work Ties for the Upper-Middle Class, Communal Ties for the Working Class

In Europe, almost half of all jobs are found through personal contacts such as colleagues, family, or friends. We analyse whether personal contacts facilitate access to jobs for the middle or the working class. We do not treat informal ties as a homogeneous category, but distinguish work-related contacts from communal contacts such as family, friends, and acquaintances. Our analysis is based on a longitudinal survey of unemployed jobseekers in Switzerland that we match with administrative data. We find that work-related ties are disproportionately used by individuals with favourable employment prospects: middle-aged jobseekers with high prior earnings. In contrast, communal contacts chiefly help jobseekers with poor employability, notably the low-skilled working class and workers dismissed for non-economic reasons. Communal contacts thus compensate for the difficulty of finding a job through other channels. However, the different search methods do not affect how wages evolve from pre- to post-unemployment jobs. The unemployed who found a job via communal ties were earning less than those using a work tie or a formal method to begin with